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“I can assure you at this time that there are eight victims who have been declared dead so far. And there is a suspect who has been pronounced dead, “Santa Clara County Deputy Sheriff Russell Davis told reporters.
He warned that there were people injured and that the number of victims could increase even more.
The Los Angeles Times cited law enforcement sources as saying the assailant set his home on fire from the local transportation board VTA union meeting, where he began shooting.
Sources said the alleged attacker is Samuel Cassidy, 57, who worked as a VTA repairman.
Davis confirmed to reporters that the suspect was a VTA employee.
Officials said they believed a bomb may have been planted at the VTA complex.
“We have received information that there are explosive devices inside the building,” Davis said. “We have activated a demining team that is currently working on the site.”
The Los Angeles Times quoted Joy Alexiou of the Santa Clara Valley Hospital as saying that two victims had been brought to the facility, one of whom had been pronounced dead and the other in critical condition.
Law enforcement sources told the Los Angeles Times that preliminary information suggests the incident is related to a workplace relationship and not related to passengers on the Santa Clara commuter rail network.
Sources added that the suspect likely committed suicide after the attack and that several weapons and lots of ammunition were found in his home.
“Our hearts go out to the victims and their families,” Deputy White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.
“It is clear that, as the president has said, we are suffering from an epidemic of gun violence in this country,” he added, urging Congress to adopt long-awaited gun control reforms.
After the incident, dozens of police patrols and fire trucks lined up at the San José train station, and agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrived.
According to local officials, the shootings, which were reported 7 hours ago. local time (5pm Lithuanian) took place during a union meeting with at least 80 employees at the time.
San José Mayor Sam Liccardo said several people have been hospitalized.
“Our hearts are grieving for the families of those we lost during these horrific shootings,” he wrote on Twitter.
The VTA announced that its personnel had been evacuated and that the network’s trains would be suspended.
The United States has long suffered from firearm-related incidents, ranging from accidental shootings to large-scale shootings of schools, workplaces and supermarkets.
Last year, more than 43,000 people died in firearm incidents in the country. people, but this number also includes suicides, according to the NGO Gun Violence Archive.
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